When it comes to naming a new president of its property, casualty and surety group, Catto & Catto LLP isn’t about to take any chances. The local insurance and risk management firm is investing the company’s future on a guaranteed return.

Longtime partner Greg LeJune has been named successor to Billy Jinks, who recently stepped down as president of the division that accounts for the majority of the company’s business. Like a lot of decisions made at the 73-year-old firm, this one didn’t come as a surprise.

“I think I’ve known it from the day Greg came on board with Catto & Catto,” says Jinks, 61. “He came on board really with all of the credentials. He just needed to learn the retail side of the business. I would imagine short of his family, Catto & Catto is his No. 2 interest in life.”

Jinks will remain a shareholder and visible leader and work as an account executive managing his clients’ accounts. LeJune will move up and increase his ownership stake in the privately-held company.

The man

LeJune grew up the son of a chemical plant worker in Lake Charles, La., where his family included two brothers, a sister and large extended network. He’s proud of his blue collar roots.

“If I wanted something, I had to work for it,” LeJune recalls.

His first job was as a sales representative for Sears. While working a busy Christmas season, he learned the demands of the retail business.

“That’s where I got an appreciation for customer service,” says LeJune, 43. “With that experience, sometimes dealing with difficult clients, difficult customers, I just got a better feel for how to make a customer happy.”

LeJune earned a bachelor’s degree in business from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La., and moved to Houston to take a job as a commercial underwriter with Travelers Insurance Group. At the time, he wasn’t sure insurance was the right industry for him.

“I needed a job,” he says, chuckling. “I wish I could say something more inspiring, but I can’t. Once I got in there, it was a great fit. It is a great fit. I enjoy it.”

LeJune admits he made some mistakes — extending wind coverage to property owners at South Padre Island and insuring a Missouri-based barrel manufacturer whose plant later burned down.

“You learn from them,” he says. “They sounded good at the time. After you go back and look at some mistakes, you probably could’ve, should’ve done some things differently. That’s what makes you grow.”

He later held several positions with Zurich Insurance Group in San Antonio and worked on the client side as the insurance manager for National Convenience Stores, the parent company of Stop ’N Go stores.

“I was able to see it from both angles,” LeJune says. “The perspective I got from being on the insurance company side, and then the perspective I got from being on the client side helped shape me to be better at what I’m doing today.”

LeJune joined Catto & Catto about 11 years ago. Since, he has served as a role model for company’s other 54 employees by continuously learning, having a passion for the job and raising the bar on client care, says Jaimie Hayne, partner and CEO of the property, casualty and surety group.

“Greg brings that level of expertise that few people have,” says Hayne, whose grandfather, John “Jack” Catto, started the company in 1935. “It’s sort of astounding the time he has spent learning about all of the nitty-gritty details about insurance. He’s clearly head and shoulders above (others).”

Some of the most important industry designations LeJune holds include Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, Associate in Risk Management (ARM), Associate in Reinsurance (ARe), Associate in Marine Insurance (AMIN) and Associate in Underwriting (AU) from the Insurance Institute of America, a 99-year-old insurance education organization.

Hayne says his co-partner also keeps everyone’s attention centered on clients, most of which are medium-sized businesses with 25 to 2,500 employees.

“‘We need to focus on what’s best for the client first. Good things will happen to the company if we do that,’” Hayne says LeJune often says. “We could push all sorts of things on to our clients — services or products — but it’s really trying to understand what our client wants and delivering that to them as opposed to what we want to happen.”

Under-promising and over-delivering and being forthright with clients are two other highlights of LeJune’s style of leadership, says Hayne, 45.

“A lot of people in the sales game say, ‘We want to, can do this, do this and do this,’ and then the execution part of it never happens,” Hayne says. “(LeJune’s) very good at setting to our clients what the expectations should be. We really try to manage people’s expectations, so they’re not surprised.”

The company

While Catto & Catto agents can’t predict or prevent some catastrophic events, such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks or Hurricane Katrina, they can, and do, help clients prepare and recover with “value-added services,” LeJune says.

An example of an extra service Catto & Catto offers is grievance counseling or chaplain services for its clients’ employees who witness or are affected by a devastating, on-the-job accident. For its clients in higher-risk industries, agents may also provide additional employee training on workplace safety and the government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s standards.

Catto & Catto, which counts more than $80 million in premiums, has stayed competitive in the demanding, fast-paced industry, in part, because of these extra offerings and safeguards. When comparing the frequency and types of claims at the time clients first start working with Catto & Catto with ones later on, there is a dramatic improvement, Hayne says.

“We’ve certainly been able to spot problems and issues through our risk management process that could’ve avoided very serious situations,” LeJune adds. “When we increase awareness to the issue, that increased awareness is what allows someone to prevent an accident.”

The longevity of the personal relationships forged also sets Catto & Catto apart from other insurance companies. Most of Catto & Catto employees have worked more than a decade for the firm, and it has kept many of its customers as long, if not longer, LeJune says.

Just because the firm is San Antonio-based doesn’t mean its expertise is limited to the local market. Many of its clients operate across the country or have offices overseas.

Catto & Catto’s membership in Assurex Global, a multi-national network of independently owned agencies, allows the firm to access information and markets around the world. Plus, it gives the agency more clout with the larger insurance companies, Hayne says.

The future

As president of the property, casualty and surety group, LeJune says he plans to add new services, including more online access and risk management tools for clients and other offerings he hasn’t yet identified.

“We don’t know what the next service is we’re going to extend, but we’re always looking for ways to enhance what we do,” LeJune says. “If our clients bring something to our attention we’re going to find a way to address it.”

He plans to continue monitoring the health of major insurance companies, because their losses have increased with catastrophic events and their investment returns have dwindled with the recent stock market decline. Insurance pricing — currently at its cheapest in a decade — likely will tighten up in 2009 or 2010, LeJune says.

Still, LeJune hopes to attract more clients and help customers grow their own businesses. This seems like a tough feat given the state of the financial markets and the economy.

“It is, but that’s why we’re here,” LeJune says. “By adding more services, we think we’ll be able to help our clients manage through the cycle, helping them reduce their loss, improve their risk profiles and still grow.”

Another challenge for LeJune will be letting go of some details, he says. Toning down his hands-on management style will allow him a better balance between work and his family life, which includes his wife, Lisa, and 7-year-old son, Michael.

“I want to know everything about everything,” he says. “I have a great group of people working here and they do a great job at allowing me to let loose a couple of things.”

Naming LeJune, who has been with the company more than a decade, is part of a long-term plan to perpetuate the firm as an independent agency owned by Hayne, Jinks, LeJune and seven others. They include Jim Blakely, Doug Dunlap, John McCaleb, Richard Wagner, Manuel Zuniga III, and two new partners, Steve Buffkin and Kim Kimbro.

LeJune knows he has accomplished shoes to fill as he replaces Jinks, who among his accolades is credited with growing the employee benefits division of the company from 2 to 40 percent of the company’s business.

“Greg is one of the most talented insurance people in the country,” Jinks says about his successor. “Greg is certainly capable of filling them.”

Alison Beshur is a San Antonio area freelance writer. She can be contacted at alison_besur@yahoo.com.

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